3 ms·

You're clearly not playing games with a $0.25 small blind, or a $20 buy in. Meanwhile, it might confuse professional poker players, but in a friendly cash game

by HWR_14 2y ago

You're clearly not playing games with a $0.25 small blind, or a $20 buy in. Meanwhile, it might confuse professional poker players, but in a friendly cash game that's probably a benefit.

sneak 2y ago
There are no “friendly” zero sum games about money. Either you are playing to win, or you are wasting time. Anyone who thinks otherwise is, obviously, just wasting time (which is okay, but don’t pretend it’s a “friendly game”, it’s just a distraction, not a game.) If you’re not playing for stakes where you care if you win or lose, then just don’t play for money at all. I know lots of hobby poker players, firmly nonprofessionals, who play in non-serious 2/5 and 5/5 home games where the buyin is $500-3000. Penny poker is totally pointless for anyone not below the literal/actual poverty line where $40 is actually lifechanging money. If you’re not homeless and want to play $0.25/$0.50, just play for points/chips then instead of cosplaying gambling.
- latexr 2y ago
  > There are no “friendly” zero sum games about money. Either you are playing to win, or you are wasting time. Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/11/time-you-enjoy/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/11/time-you-enjoy/ > don’t pretend it’s a “friendly game”, it’s just a distraction, not a game. A bit of friendly competition is still a game. Games can be fun. > If you’re not playing for stakes where you care if you win or lose, then just don’t play for money at all. You can still care you win, but not mind if you lose. That’s a sweet spot. Even a small pot (which is still a multiplier of all players) can get people engaged just that extra bit to take it a bit more seriously. That’s more enjoyable for everyone: you get more investment and interesting plays. The winner gets a some pocket money but no one else is bummed by the loss, it becomes a pittance relative to the enjoyment of playing with friends. > just play for points/chips then instead of cosplaying gambling. Why does this make you (sound/read) so irate? Let people enjoy themselves, no one is being harmed.
- shmeeed 2y ago
  You seem to be strangely offended by the idea of people playing small stakes home games for fun, and frankly, your understanding of a game seems rather skewed to me as well. I'm really glad for you to know and hopefully be able to make a living off of non-professionals that can afford to lose several thousand dollars in one evening of non-serious playing. That's a great clientèle to have as a professional gambler, and I see nothing wrong with taking advantage of it. But I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably far from the lived experience of most people, and neither should it be. Obviously for poker to make sense you need to have a minimum of skin in the game. Which is exactly why you basically telling people here to rather go and play with peas comes across as pretty tone deaf, not to say entitled. You need to understand that you are projecting your standards on people who have no aspirations to play professionally.

by HWR_14 2y ago

You're clearly not playing games with a $0.25 small blind, or a $20 buy in. Meanwhile, it might confuse professional poker players, but in a friendly cash game that's probably a benefit.

sneak 2y ago

There are no “friendly” zero sum games about money. Either you are playing to win, or you are wasting time. Anyone who thinks otherwise is, obviously, just wasting time (which is okay, but don’t pretend it’s a “friendly game”, it’s just a distraction, not a game.) If you’re not playing for stakes where you care if you win or lose, then just don’t play for money at all. I know lots of hobby poker players, firmly nonprofessionals, who play in non-serious 2/5 and 5/5 home games where the buyin is $500-3000. Penny poker is totally pointless for anyone not below the literal/actual poverty line where $40 is actually lifechanging money. If you’re not homeless and want to play $0.25/$0.50, just play for points/chips then instead of cosplaying gambling.

latexr 2y ago
> There are no “friendly” zero sum games about money. Either you are playing to win, or you are wasting time. Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/11/time-you-enjoy/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/11/time-you-enjoy/ > don’t pretend it’s a “friendly game”, it’s just a distraction, not a game. A bit of friendly competition is still a game. Games can be fun. > If you’re not playing for stakes where you care if you win or lose, then just don’t play for money at all. You can still care you win, but not mind if you lose. That’s a sweet spot. Even a small pot (which is still a multiplier of all players) can get people engaged just that extra bit to take it a bit more seriously. That’s more enjoyable for everyone: you get more investment and interesting plays. The winner gets a some pocket money but no one else is bummed by the loss, it becomes a pittance relative to the enjoyment of playing with friends. > just play for points/chips then instead of cosplaying gambling. Why does this make you (sound/read) so irate? Let people enjoy themselves, no one is being harmed.
shmeeed 2y ago
You seem to be strangely offended by the idea of people playing small stakes home games for fun, and frankly, your understanding of a game seems rather skewed to me as well. I'm really glad for you to know and hopefully be able to make a living off of non-professionals that can afford to lose several thousand dollars in one evening of non-serious playing. That's a great clientèle to have as a professional gambler, and I see nothing wrong with taking advantage of it. But I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably far from the lived experience of most people, and neither should it be. Obviously for poker to make sense you need to have a minimum of skin in the game. Which is exactly why you basically telling people here to rather go and play with peas comes across as pretty tone deaf, not to say entitled. You need to understand that you are projecting your standards on people who have no aspirations to play professionally.